


Distractions

by JPeterson



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 02:22:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4287081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JPeterson/pseuds/JPeterson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josephine is pacing, and Ellana is trying really, <i>really</i> hard not to laugh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distractions

**Author's Note:**

> So this essentially just happened to me (only I figured it out myself and used webster.com), and after I got over being pissed off at how well my own brain trolled me, I realized that it really was pretty funny. Thus, this.

Normally when Ellana enters Josephine's office, her lover is either calmly conversing with a member of the castle staff, or seated at her desk while patiently going over the mountain of paperwork that seems to pour in every week. This time, however, the usually peaceful air in the room is filled with the sound of footsteps, and she's surprised enough that she actually stops for a brief moment in the middle of the doorway and cocks her head.

Josephine is pacing; a thick book in her hand as she moves from the front of her desk, in narrow curve around the small sofa in front of the fire and over to her desk again. She pauses there just long enough to tap her foot against the floor thrice, after which the cycle repeats itself, and apparently has been doing so for a while. She's also muttering under her breath, and sounds remarkably irritated when considering her overall, gentle demeanor.

“Is something wrong?” Ellana wonders, and takes a somewhat hesitant step inside before closing the door behind her.

Her voice makes Josephine stop, and there's a distinct tint to her cheeks that the bronze of her skin can't quite conceal, but she sighs. “This--” She holds up the book with an air of utmost annoyance, and takes a single, hard breath. “This is quite possibly the most unprofessional dictionary that I have ever had the displeasure of coming across.”

'Interesting' isn't quite the word for it, but it's the best one that Ellana can come up with. “... why?”

With a huff, Josephine whips the book in her hands open, and resumes her agitated pacing as she starts reading. “Distracted,” she quotes. “One; feeling overwhelming fear or worry. Available synonym, for example: distracted. Two: lost in thought and unaware of one's thoughts or actions. An available synonym is, again: distracted. Three--” She's circled the room again at this point, and Ellana is honestly surprised that she doesn't seem to be dizzy in the slightest. “-- suffering from mental confusion, and yet again, one of the available synonyms is _distracted_.” The dictionary closes with a _snap_ , and Josephine comes to sharp halt as she sets her hands on her hips. “Honestly; the sheer _illogicality_ of it!”

So she wanted another word for 'distracted', Ellana surmises, and has now effectively distracted _herself_ with her own irritation. What's more, she seems completely unaware of it, and Ellana has to bite her lip when her diaphragm tightens sharply in order to hold down her amusement.

“Josephine?” Her voice does sound a little choked, but she is very deliberately _not_ smiling. She also isn't looking at the dictionary, and she _definitely_ isn't thinking a single step beyond the question she wants to ask. “Why were you looking it up?”

“Why?” Those dark eyes give her a puzzled look, and Ellana sinks to a careful seat on the sofa because she knows that if she loses control of this, her legs aren't going to be able to support her. “Well, I needed the synonym for--” Pause, and Josephine touches her fingers to her own lips while her brow furrows. “Goodness, would you believe that I don't remember?” she muses, as if to herself. “It's certainly rare for me to become this thoroughly distrac--”

Ellana's throat is  _aching_ from the effort it takes to force down the laughter that so desperately wants to escape, and watching Josephine just  _freeze_ while her jaw goes slack with realization really doesn't make it any easier. The small choke that does escape her goes unnoticed, however, because those eyes are widening as they stare at the wall, and Ellana can feel her abdomen clenching in rapid bursts while her nails bite into her palms.

Then Josephine's entire face just...  _scrunches_ , and Ellana is biting her lip hard enough to draw blood; firmly pressing her closed fists against her own thighs and  _not moving a single inch_ because she can't breathe  _already_ and oh,  _Gods_ , Josephine looks as if she swallowed an unpeeled lemon and caught an especially strong whiff of sour milk all at once.

“I don't believe--” Josephine says, very slowly. “-- that I at any previous point in my life have been quite _this_ annoyed.”

Ellana should have seated herself on the floor, she realizes a very short time later. She ends up there, anyway.

 


End file.
